"If you're going through hell... Keep going!"

Seville - Day 4

2009-06-22T22:21:00.008+01:00

After two days of walking in the historic city centre of Seville we have decided to see attractions which are situated bit further. The city bikes came with a great use allowing us to commute fast and enjoyably.

Marta with our city bikes at our first stop - the city walls.

Seville has many bridges across the river. The new designs bring new, fresh spirit to the city.

Olimpic Stadium, another football ground visited during the trip.

M&M in the area of Expo 1992 which Seville was host of.

Marta aiming higher and higher :)

The monastery in Seville.

The bull fight area and museum

The bull fight arena, which stills hosts the competitions on Sundays

The kiosk at the Bull Fight stadium, a little bit different to the Old Trafford kiosks in Manchester :)

Bull head chopped off by one of the Toreadors

Just posing... not a toreador, so calm person am I...

back to the Seville's parks to hide from sun :)

Marta smiling as she was leading me through the Seville to explore and find attractions which were not on the tourist map... We are the travellers:)

Flamenco night!

So much tension and emotion in Flamenco...

... and skill, rhythm and spirit!

I recommend you a trip to Seville which is truly magnificent city which so much history and tradition hiding within the buildings I showed to you. Andalusia is a very interesting region to explore and Seville is a stop not to miss!

Cadiz - Day 3

2009-06-22T22:17:00.005+01:00

What kind of visit would it be to Spain without going to the sea side? Well, I can't imagine it therefore we took a 90 minutes train to Cadiz. However, the first half of the day did not allowed us to lay on the beach, we sight-see the city and later when the sun came from behind the clouds we had time to enjoy the sea and beach.

The city hall of Cadiz.

Another massive Spanish cathedral.

Myself relieved to see the sea again... I love that view which makes me wonder...

Marta waiting for the sun...

Freedom!

The moment is our so it's time to enjoy it!

The city walls which surround the historic area.

Cadiz as most of the Spanish cities has narrow streets with those tiny balconies.

The view on the Cadiz Cathedral and the seaside

San Sebastian castle

Cadiz City centre

Cadiz is a lovely city which is worth visiting and has beautiful sandy beaches where you can have a break from the Seville's high temperatures.

Seville - Day 2

2009-06-22T22:09:00.006+01:00

Stadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan - The Football Stadium of FC Seville. Another stop on my travels around the world during which I promised to myself to always have a look on the local football team stadium.

Marta in The Alcazar of Seville, a royal palace which is massive and has gorgeous gardens.

The rooms of the palace has been richly decorated in ceramic.

One of the squares within the palace.

Marta enjoying walk in Alcazar while the sun was still behind the clouds.

Hundreds of visitors to the palace allow taking care of the enormous gardens of the palace.

What a fantasy the had centuries ago? Fountain in the garden and paintings within the walls, all designed to relax and inspire the owner.

Myself hiding from Marta in the garden labirynth.

And the sun came back for the afternoon allowing us tu further explore sights of the city.

The summer house of the recent queens.

Plaza de Espana. The magnificent palace which was build in 1929 for Spanish-American Exhibition. The buildings are not occupied and visitors can take only few pictures there and head off to the Maria Luisa Park which surrounds it.

M&M enjoying the high tempretures and sun :)

Cadiz mozaique - the next city we planned to visit during our stay in Spain

The day has finished by the romantic dinner in one of the "advised" restaurants we found in our great travel guide. Here Marta ordered the seashells :)

Seville - Day 1

2009-06-22T21:45:00.012+01:00

Another challenging year in Manchester, United Kingdom has finished and M&M decided to go on city break to Seville. We are fascinated about Spain, its culture, tradition and language. Therefore we decided to again visit another region of that amazing country - Andalusia...

The streets of Seville are surrounded by the beautiful buildings which create the atmosphere and mirror the traditional Spanish architecture and culture.

Seville as the every traditional Spanish city has a mixture of styles heritage of the invaders: Arabs, Phoenicia and Carthage.

The bishop's house

Break for traditional tapas in the local tapas restaurant, which was so great that we came back there. Interesting was eating on the large steps decorated in all sort of ceramic figures.

Busy tapas counter with porg legs hanging above the customers. Spaniards are fast and loud when preparing the food and it is fascinating to watch them serving and getting around such small space.

The great invention of Spaniards who hang those linen across the buildings to protect people from the sun burnt.

Plaza Nueva - the main city square in front of the City Hall

This building reminds me of Wester Movies and Dramas such as "Doctor Queen"

The lovely square nearby the cathedral

Calle Mateos Gago (one of the lovely streets)

Giralda the bell tower of Seville Cathedral, which was builded by different conquerors, who added styles from their times baroc, renaissance, islamic.

M&M walking around the Seville

Torre del Oro - the tower overlooking the Guadalquivir river. Legends say that the Indies stored their tresure there.

One of the amazing bridges in Seville. The new designs are a proof that the city has not stops and continues developing and investing to remain its position and attract visitors and businesses.

Marta enjoying the Spanish nature in one of the parks.

After the tireing first day of walking around the Seville the earned Dinner time had came...

Visit to York

2009-05-26T19:18:00.011+01:00

On Saturday 23rd of May M&M together with Agi&Lukasz decided to explore another city - York, which is just 90 minutes by train from Manchester. It was recommended by many people to us, therefore we wanted to check it out and we do not regret it...

Marta in the York Gardens

Agi & Lukasz in the King's Gardens

myself enjoying the amazing ruins

one of the King's mansions

M&M in York

photo courtesy of Lukasz

M&M beginning their adventure in York

In the Yorkshire museum we found out that York was not only Viking city but also Roman's
After seeing visiting the museum we had a chance to learn history from a real people who tell fascinating stories of Roman times. Saturday was the day of Roman's in York and we had chance to see their weapons, techniques of pottery and arching.

Then we moved to city centre to see the York Minster. The largest Medieval Gothic cathedral north of the Alps and a treasure house of 800 years of stained glass. (Link to more info)

The nice weather allowed us to see the Minster in full view and delight it size and architecture.

Because it was Roman's day - they accompanied us throughout the city by various activities - here walking with slaves.

One of the churches in centre of York.

Once we've seen the Roman's we decided to move back in history - to Viking times. The JORVIK (York in Viking language) Viking centre was exciting way of learning about those times! (Link to see more details)

After experiencing travel to Viking times we tried it ourselves ;)

Then we went to the York Dungeons for some excitement, and I have to admit - it was a fantastic visit with some scary moments and fun. (more info)

Then we went further to explore the city. The Clifford Tower allowed us to have a great view on the city from the top.

Marta and Agi happy from the great trip we took.

Lukasz the greatest :)

York Minster

M&M enjoying the city of York

York is a nice city, worth seeing - the view is a great example of English city

Some traditional architecture houses (Chester looks all like that)

Some elderly people fighting for their rights... respect for them!

Ah... classics:)

Marta on the boat trip!
River boats are very popular here in UK, allowing you to go from Manchester, York all the way to London!Finally, in the end of day we took a Yorkboat. An amazing tour guide took us to the South and North end of York and told very funny and interesting stories about history of the city.

British houses mostly are very common and simillar, but the once by the river were unusual - beautiful:)

Last view on the York Minster from the city walls you can walk on around the city centre.

City walls

Micklegate, one of many gates around the city leading to the heart of York...

York impressed me by the history - Viking and Romans - and the heritage which is available to see and touch. Also the attractions available are amazing - they do not allow you to get bored!
We have purchased the York Day Pass and it was totally worth it - we saved a lot of money and have seen the best attractions!

If you wonder where to go in UK - York is one of the locations to go! Visit York!

Article about Our, SIFE Salford success!

2009-05-06T22:49:00.004+01:00

On the photo: (from left) Lujan Patitucci, Lukasz Szczekala, Thomas Hurst, Spyros Spyrou, Bekki Stanyer, Daiga Strupa, Mark Hartwell, Ismael Salehmohamed, Mariusz Andreasik
The fantastic SIFE Salford representation team!

The article has been published in Student Direct on 4th of May 2009. The newspaper is reaching 50,000 students in Salford and Manchester, UK.

Once again Big Thanks to the presentation team (Lukasz Szczekala, Thomas Hurst, Spyros Spyrou, Daiga Strupa, Mark Hartwell, Mariusz Andreasik) that achieved an amazing success!

Also many thanks to the people who supported us throughout the year - Louise Kenworthy & Abdul Shama and to those who prepared us to the final presentation - Paul Cowell and Barry Forrester and our panel of judges at the University, our partners and sponsors.

Thank you!

The final report of SIFE Salford available here (PDF): Outside pages (20 Mb) & Inside Pages (32 Mb)

The presentation file available here: SIFE Salford Power Point Presentation (51 Mb)

SIFE SALFORD IN SEMI-FINALS OF THE SIFE UK NATIONAL COMPETITION

2009-04-30T22:09:00.001+01:00

University of Salford first time represented in prestigious entrepreneurial showdown

London, 23 April 2009

Earlier today, SIFE Salford, the University’s of Salford most entrepreneurial students, made their way to Semi-Finals of the SIFE UK National Competition, after investing more than 3500 hours into the community projects and achieving, thereby, an undisputable success as a barely one-year-old SIFE team to go through the competition’s Opening Round.

The accolade is a ‘dream coming true’ for the SIFE Salford, the competition’s first-timers team, that was selected to represent the University of Salford for the first time in its career earlier in March this year, during the Regional North-West round of that prestigious tournament.

“Our team is honoured to be awarded a place in the Semi-Finals”, said Lukasz Szczekala, Communications Director. “We could not be happier, because we proved ourselves and the other teams that it doesn’t matter how many years of the experience the team has, but it is the true passion and cooperation between students that matters the most”.

In order to win over the competitors from such universities like Sussex, Swansea or Birmingham, the Salford University team presented the results of their 5 entrepreneurial projects, including: ‘Northwest Student Enterprise Conference’, ‘Business Game’ and ‘St Sebastian Community Centre’ to the panel of nearly 100 judges representing UK’s most renowned companies: HSBC, KPMG, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and ASDA, to name but a few. The students chose their projects carefully to match the needs of Salford’s residents with an aim to empower them, educate and increase employability within the region. Mariusz Andreasik, Vice President of SIFE Salford summarized: “Judges appreciated the most the way we created economic opportunities for more than 400 people from our local community and that is SIFE Salford’s prime goal.” The team’s efforts were also intensively covered by the local media, thanks to whom students reached nearly 600 000 people.

“I believe our first success in the National Competition comes down to our 60 great members representing 15 countries with different backgrounds and cultures. But this variety is what actually makes our team unique”, continues Andreasik.

The SIFE UK National Competition recognizes students’ hard work during the academic year, enabling them to meet business leaders, speak to the potential future employers and network with each other. The award in the Finals means prestige and the secure place in the SIFE World Cup, this year in Berlin, where the team will compete against the National Champion teams from all over the globe.

Debuting SIFE Salford was also nominated to three awards during the National Competition, including: Rookie Champions for new teams and those sponsored by Wilkinson and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The team has now even more ambitious plans – to introduce new project – ‘Loaves & Fishes’, a drop in advice centre for homeless people, while carrying on with existing aid given to the local community. The ‘big dream’ is to represent their University again in the next year’s World Cup.

Press Release by Marta Karas

www.sifesalford.org

Skiing in Italy, Sauze d'Oulx

2009-04-11T15:15:00.010+01:00

Hey ho! Just wanted to share with you my great experience of skiing in Italy. Together with fantastic group of friends (Marta, Lukasz, Agi, Karolina, Lukasz, Tung) we were skiing & snowboarding in amazing resort of Sauze d'Oulx nearby Turin. The place where there were Winter Olimpics in 2006.

Our holidays were organized by ThomasCook and Nelson, and I strongly recommend them as we had smooth holidays from early beginning to the very end!

I would love to share with you some pictures from that holiday!

Myself skiing. I got to admit that the slopes were prepared to the highest standard, allowing me to get the speed, I had hardly ever experienced...

also, the slopes were empty so I could have tried the carving style without thinking that I might do some harm, or someone can hit me. What a relief!

Tung snowboarding - Aussie style!

Lukasz was on the other hand jumping all over the place, hitting the trees and snow :)

Tung tried a bit of jumping as well, had to prove the point :)

Wonderful slopes in the trees. Wonderful surroundings of Alps and smooth, silent and long (up to 10km) tracks.

The view from the top... takes a breath away...

Olimpic track... going down? You sure?

Marta on the reindeer spreading the joy!

Quite steep tracks didn't discourage our positive team :)

Surroundings were flabbergasting!

Friends forever!

Small person in the massive mountains

Hey ho! Let's go... go... faster!

Our lovely hotel in the town centre, just 5 minute walk in the ski boots from the first ski lift! Very convenient location! Assietta Hotel is the place to stay!

Lukasz trying some carving style at the high speed!

M&M in Alps!

M&M and Tung enjoying the sun

Our amazing team, sun burnt but happy enjoying local cuisine

always with style

hmm black slope... for beginners, isn't it?

well... sunny throughout the week apart from one day... which was snowy and foggy...

Thank you Italy for the wonderful time we had!

The only brave who got to the top to try the black track.

M&M
Ski and snowboarding team

Bum boarding!

Thanks to all the friends who enjoyed Italian Alps with me! Let's do it again!

Greetings to all skiers, snowboarders and fans of mountains!

An Avalanche of Success... by SIFE Salford

2009-03-18T23:15:00.003Z

The great achievements of SIFE Salford team had been recognized by the local newspaper. Those successes include winning of grants from: HSBC, Enterprise-rent-a-car and Wilkinson. The money earned will be spent on the three projects our team works on:
- Financial Literacy for Kids (FLiP Kids)
- Freebies for businesses (teaching local businesses and students about legal and ethical aspects of using unlicensed software as well as showing the alternatives)
- St Sebastian Community Centre project (helping the social enterprise sustain in the difficult economic downturn)

Congratulations to the SIFE Salford team!

Especially to George Akomas (FLiP), Lukasz Szczekala & Mariusz Andreasik (Freebies; St Sebs) and Spyros Spyrou (Freebies)

The article has been published in Student Direct on 23rd of February 2009. The newspaper is reaching 50,000 students in Salford and Manchester, UK.

Article about SIFE Salford winning the Wilkinson Grant

2009-02-23T15:08:00.004Z

The article has been published in Student Direct on 23rd of February 2009. The newspaper is reaching 50,000 students in Salford and Manchester, UK.

I am proud to say that Mariusz Andreasik & Lukasz Szczekala earned well-deserved laurels by preparing the grant application and for their great involvment in St Sebastian's Community project, for which the money will be dedicated.

Congratulations to all project members!

SIFE SALFORD SCOOPS £200 FOR CHARITY PROJECT - Wilkinson Grant Accolade for Entrepreneurial Students

2009-02-21T22:29:00.003Z

Welcome!

I haven't updated you for a while, mainly because I've been very busy with University, work and student society - SIFE.

Todays news is about a great achievement, which I've been a great part of - the project I am a leader has been awarded a grant by Wilkinson company. The grant application was prepared by myself and Łukasz Szczekala with support of Marta Karaś.

This is a great news and will stimulate my team to work towards our common and projects objectives. Below, I present you a press release prepared by Marta Karaś, the PR&Marketing Adviser for SIFE Salford.

/// Press Release ///

Salford, January 2009

SIFE Salford (Student in Free Enterprise), the new society for entrepreneurial students of the University of Salford, has been awarded a £200 worth grant in the Wilkinson Entrepreneurship Individual Topic Competition. SIFE Salford’s young entrepreneurs’ team will destine the money towards developing the Salford’s St. Sebastian Community Centre.

The Wilkinson Hardware Stores rewarded SIFE Salford for the best fulfillment of the SIFE international criteria – creating the economic opportunity by helping others to succeed as an entrepreneur and improve an existing business.

“We are delighted that we have been awarded the Wilkinson grant, it is great news for our young team and we did not expect that award,” said Mariusz Andreasik, Vice President of SIFE Salford and Project Leader. “We are a true mixture of students representing 19 countries and over 20 different courses, but we all live here in Salford and we want to give something back from us to the local community. The money we now have will be used to develop and implement a marketing strategy for Cafe Green owned by the St. Sebastian Community Centre.”

On top of this award, the SIFE Salford team has also a chance to win further £500 and a trophy to be presented during the SIFE UK National Competition in April this year. In order to do it, students will have to prepare a report demonstrating the results achieved thanks to their community project.

SIFE Salford’s Communication Director, Lukasz Szczekala on team’s further plans: “The year 2009 is going to be a very challenging year for the society, because our team is still growing with new members and we are involved in several projects, both charity ones, as well as related to economic and teaching financial literacy”.

Along with the cooperation with the local community, the society sets its aim for this year to improve the skills of its members in order to increase their employability. To achieve that, various workshops and seminars will be organized and will cover broad business and entrepreneurial subjects.

For further press information please contact:

SIFE Salford V-ce President and Project Leader, Mariusz Andreasik
www.sifesalford.org

Volleyball match: Resovia - Delecta

2009-01-08T17:45:00.004Z

First Polish League Volleyball match between Resovia Rzeszow and Delecta Bydgosz.
The match we attended in the new year to cheer our local team!

Start the action!

The best fan club in Poland! They were cheering for 2,5 hours without stopping for a second!

Resovia was winning 2-0 after great attacks and defending

Unfortunatelly, Delecta came back and equalized 2-2.
Thankfully, Resovia managed to win the last ball and end that game winning 3-2.

Marta, Lukas & Agi the volleyball fans happy with the Resovia win.

More information about Resovia Rzeszow here.

Rzeszow in Snow

2009-01-08T16:55:00.008Z

Today I would like to show you pictures of my home city, Rzeszow in South-East of Poland, the capital of Podkarpackie region.

the Rzeszow coat of arms

Lovely, newly renovated City Hall (in polish Ratusz) with the golden eagle from Poland national coat of arms (although after fall of communism it has a crown)

View on the City Hall from Slowackiego street

Interesting sculpture in the city centre with the quote from the best Polish football coach, Kazimierz Górski who led Poland to 3rd place at World Cup in 1974.
The quote says: "The ball is round, there are two goals, either we win or they".

An old historic tenement at the market square (the main square in Rzeszow)

Monument of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the hero and general of Polish army, who led in 1794 the Kosciuszko Uprising against Imperial Russia.

Old well at the market square, today a meeting point

The monument at the heart of Rzeszow's market place

One corner of marketplace

Newly refurbished old tenements present really nicely

Mistletoe at the well, the meeting point. The wonderful city hall in the background.

Front of the city hall.

Rzeszów welcomes everyone

Entrance to the city hall

I High School in Rzeszow, which I attended and church next to it.

Building of one of the commercial polish banks

Summer residence of famous Polish family - Lubmirski, who owned the city throughout the centuries. Now this building is rented by Rzeszow University.

An avenue of chestnuts, favourite place to go out for a date

Magnificent Lubomirski Castle in Rzeszow. Currently the main law court in the region.

The monument to memory of Polish soldiers

The castle from different perspective

Cannon in front of the castle

The entrance to the castle, the law court

Very nice reperesentation of Polish houses

Learn more about Rzeszow from:

Happy New 2009 Year!

2008-12-31T14:37:00.000Z

Dear friends and guests

I wish you all the best in 2009 Year, that the plans you made come true. However, I wish that a great opportunities appear on your horizons and you will use that chance, that could change you and your life.

I wish you and your family, friends, beloved a lot of health! This is the most important factor in our lives - rest is up to you, and I believe that you can take care of things you can control and decide on!

Take care and hope to see you all happy, positive and full of dreams, ambition in 2009!

Remember that one person can make a change, and I wish you a courage to do so!

In Polish: "Szczęśliwego i zdrowego Nowego 2009 Roku!"

Mario (Mariusz)

Friends reunions 2008

2008-12-28T18:25:00.003Z

Makum, Misiek & me (Mario)

the best friends and neighbours ever! We know each other for about 10 years now and we spent those days all the time together doing crazy things.
Today, we live far from each other (Poznan, Nowy Sacz, Manchester) but we meet twice a year and as before, we share our experiences, problems and thoughts to plan the brighter future for ourselves. I just love those meetings and those guys!:*

Junior High School Reunion!

My Junior High School class was the most funny bunch of friends I have ever met - so many optimistic and crazy people at one place at the same time... unbelievable !
Well, we decided to meet at the second day of Christmas, which seemed to be convenient for everyone as comes back home...

in 2008 for reunion came: Rydzik (Tomasz), Mario (Mariusz), Szczex (Lukasz), Spider (Maciek), Perchal (Krzysiek)

I have more meeting planned with other various friends I met in my home city, wish to have time to meet all of them, but it is limited, even though I wish all the best to each of them!

Skiing at Laworta, Poland

2008-12-28T17:51:00.005Z

The Manchester team: Lukas, Mario, Marta & Agi

Freaky Misiek!

Makum and Misiek in the trees! Snowboarding skills released!

Makum, Marta, Mario & Lukas
Snowy

Happy friends :)

Misiek and Makum determined to show their skills and enjoy snowboarding!

Mario's Dad, Mario, Makum & Misiek

It was a great ski trip to Laworta in Ustrzyki Dolne, Poland! We took two cars full of great friends, optimistic and relaxed skiiers and snowboarders. The skiing conditions were very good and our friend Piotrek from Ustrzyki welcomed us in his village ;D

Team of the day: Mario&Marta, Makum, Lukasz&Agi, Misiek&Ewa, Mario's Dad, Ustrzyk and his Dad.
Thanks to everyone for a great time and support!

More information about the mountain and current conditions can be found on this website.

Christmas 2008 in Poland

2008-12-28T17:05:00.004Z

Me and my grandparents

The Christmas tree decorated by myself

My father played all the carols while me and Marta were singing to share our Christmas spirit

M&M with Kamilek, my godson

Asia, Kamilek and Pawel, the positive family with love and fun!

M&M during second day of Christmas at Marta's home where her family invited me over for a dinner

This was the first time that Christmas Eve and following days of celebration where hosted at my parents house. Therefore, it was a little bit stressful for my mother. But thanks to great organization we are famous from, we managed to go through these dinners, breakfasts smooth and without any accidents.

We sang and played the carols, talked about life and future. We played with Kamilek who was very absorbing and everyone focused their attention on him, as this was his first Christmas!

All the best from my family and hope you enjoyed that time in the way you love!

Escape to Nantes, France [Day 3]

2008-12-15T14:01:00.005Z

Last day in Nantes we decided to explore the island, where museum of machines constructed to the designs of Leonardo da Vinci has its location. Unfortunately, it was closed, but we had a chance to see the elephant and walk around to see more attractions.

Me with "Grand Elephant" - design of Leonardo da Vinci. In Machines of the Ile de Nantes (Visit Les Machines de l'Ile)

Marta showing the home, museum of Jules Verne we visited the day before.

Author of great adventurous books such as "Around the world in 80 days".

Rings situated at Ile de Nantes is an exceptional 350-hectare territory located right in the heart of Nantes, and in front of the historical centre (Visit Nantes)

Marta with huge "Titan" crane used in the shipyard

in the pancake house

at the Nantes stadium
FC Nantes stadium

I could not be in any city and not to see the football stadium there!

In the park

French house - photo curiosity of Marta

Rings by night

Marta in the potato house, having potatoes in five styles

Escape to Nantes, France [Day 2]

2008-12-15T13:52:00.005Z

Second day in capital of Brittany, Nantes was amazing as we explored many sights around the city and tasted delicious specialities of this North-West France region.

Duchy of Britanny castle

Me enjoying the medieval castle

Gold Autumn in France

The LU Tower, where first factory of famous biscuits (Petit)

Marta in the Duchess Anne castle, and in far background the Gothic Cathedral

Amazing autumn in Nantes

Cathedral and historic tenements

Marta wondering what if...

Ah!!! Traditional pastries from Nantes region

le lieu unique - old biscuit factory turned into cultural centre

Marta enjoying lovely autumn time

M&M in the castle

The moat around the castle - by night

La cigale - the gorgeous restaurant

Me with tasty pancake with orange sauce

M&M in Nantes

Croissants... lovely, tasty great with coffee!

Escape to Nantes, France [Day 1]

2008-12-15T13:31:00.006Z

Escape, because everyone needs a break from everyday life, work, University, obligations, shopping, transport, country, people...
What if one airline offers cheap deals for travelling, what a waste it would be not to take that opportunity! Well, we did not! And I took my lovely Marta to Nantes, France for a weekend to relax and spent some more time together, as in this busy world and times it hard to find time for each other. This time was precious and highly needed, and I'm glad we made it!

And Nantes turned out to be a lovely place for an escape with all the things needed... great sight-seeing attractions, amazing local food and specialities i.e. creperies (crepes) and chocolate.

Passage Pommeraye - an old shopping centre with traditional French products

Young students group playing an amazing music to raise some funds for themselves :)

Theatre of Nantes

Dukes of Brittany Castle by Night

One of the beautiful buildings in Nantes

Marta showing where exactly is Nantes, in North-West of France

Incredible characters made from chocolate

First thing ever stolen from me

2008-12-10T00:19:00.001Z

It is outrageous what happened to me today. My bike (technically it was Marta's bike) has been stolen from a shopping centre where I parked it and secured. It was a daylight robbery!

Last picture of the bike with a lovely owner

It was a shock for me that someone has took my belonging, even though it is of a low value (thankfully!). The main issue is that, how, why someone did that if it was a low quality and value - what drives those people?

I was very confused by this situation and did not have a clue how to react... thanks to my friend Lukas who was there with me (his bike did not got stolen) we made a joke out of this whole situation...

Happy Motoring to whoever is in possession of my great bike that did not have a front break...!

SIFE Salford adventures

2008-11-07T11:38:00.006Z

SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) Salford is a fantastic team of positive, highly motivated and smart students of Salford University. I am proud to be a member of this student society and grateful to be a Vice-President for upcoming year.

This is a big responsibility and challenge but I believe that we can make it to the National Finals and go through to the final four. This can be achieved by hard and creative work on our projects. Each team member have to dedicate time and energy to make our goals happen.

Each team has to integrate before working together. We were a bunch of new people and the SIFE Leadership Weekend 2008 was a great event when we got close to each other and 'clicked' as a team. We were the most recognised team, well known and positive.

We started our weekend by climbing this platform and walking around it through various obstacles. It was exactly what we needed! A lot of adrenaline, some scary moments - all to release the stress and loosen the muscles after all the University and part time jobs tensions.
The campus is based in Grantham nearby Nottingham at PGL Campus

Our team enjoyed great food and networking opportunities with the brightest students from all UK Universities.

SIFE Salford 2008/2009 team - the most recoginsed team ;)

The weekend was very challenging weekend. Many workshops, business challenges and outdoor activities took place. But the networking events are the core of these events, and we had a great time!

Free hugs!
Salford team all nice and smart

A month ago total strangers... a month later friends forever!

Chicas de SIFE Salford
How smart and representative

and finally... M&M had a marvellous weekend! We loved all the activities and entertainment. I just can not imagine what would be if we did not join SIFE...
it is all about great fun in life...

...now it is time for the hard part - working on projects and team work towards the one goal: making economic difference in other lifes using various channels and approaches.

'I was given an amazing chance and opportunity, I want to share that with others and open doors for them as well'.

Visit SIFE Salford at www.sifesalford.org

Day off in Sale

2008-10-24T19:41:00.003+01:00

Have you ever wondered how the villages around you look? Sometimes you might forget how the traditional villages and nature looks, once you are settle in metropolitan city as Manchester. It is worth to escape from the trams, buses, busy streets, high buildings to some rural area.

I decided that we should visit one of the towns on the Altrincham tram line on lovely Sunday 28th September 2008. I have chosen to go to Sale as I found on the website the nice park and lovely path by the river.

Traditional houses in Sale
It is Sale, reminds me of Castlefield in Manchester

My Lovely Marta enjoying autumn

I do enjoy day off...

Natural sculpture

Lovely estates in Sale

"Ślimak ślimak pokaż rogi" - "Snail, snail show horns"

British traditional household

Explore your surroundings and appreciate them once for a while.

City - Chelsea

2008-09-14T14:19:00.005+01:00

Manchester City is being bought by Abu Dhabi Development group which is going to invest millions of pounds in club and players - as it happened in Chelsea few years ago. An early clash of these two clubs was very interesting to watch.

Warming up

Full stadium of City and Chelsea supporters

Provocation from Manchester United fans? Rented plane was flying back and forth with Red's t-shirt!

Marta wondering who is playing and what for?

Lukas enjoying the game - check his blog for more pics from that game!

Chelsea supporters were loud all game long!

Shaun Wright-Phillips delivering a corner

Frank Lampard, the man who earns 190k pounds a week...

Freekick by Robinho - first GOAL of the game and in new club!

Chelsea celebrating after scoring a goal

Deco, very intelligent and precise player

Didier Drogba came from the bench and tried his best to score

Big Bang - the monument in front of Sport City in Manchester.

There are plenty free seats at Manchester City stadium to book your place for any match - so go and enjoy!

Chester

2008-09-14T14:14:00.004+01:00

I love travelling and exploring places I live in. Therefore, together with Marta we went to Chester which is just 40 minutes away by train and is meant to be a lovely place. Those advertised that tu us were 100% right. It is a lovely city with traditional architecture that reminded me of Schwaebisch Hall and Germany.

The second most famous clock in England - "The Eastgate clock"

Exploring each sight of Chester, according to the map and guide

Enjoying tasty cake made by around 90 years old ladies in church cafeteria. So wonderful ladies speaking in clear accent.

All these traditional houses are now fitted with popular and high-street shops.

Chester castle... which is currently occupied by court - exactly as in my home city, Rzeszow

Chester is cut in half by the river on which there are many water sports to enjoy and have a pleasant walk

One of the old, pedestrian bridges

the ruins of cathedral

Chester Cathedral

magnificent size Cathedral in Chester

Doesn't it look like Germany? It does to me!

Wedding party coming!

M&M in Chester!

I recommend visiting Chester as it looks amazing and lovely.